Playing On
by Star Bear
Summary: Harry rediscovers a forgotten talent and comes to terms with the struggles of fourth year. Oneshot


Harry sighed and leaned against the open doorway looking into the dusty room. He had noticed the room was skipped in the cleaning rampage Mrs. Weasley had dragged the kids on and had checked back on it later. It appeared to be a music room and was bringing back memories Harry had tried to suppress for the last five years.

The grand piano on the back wall was magnificent despite the cobwebs surrounding it. Harry longed to see if it was in tune and could not resist drifting toward the instrument. A violin hung on the left wall and there were empty hooks for other stringed instruments. The opposite wall had a flute case set on a small carved table.

Harry ghosted his fingertips over the piano top and brushed the dust onto his jeans. He gingerly pulled the piano bench out and sat on it. With a painful squeal the lid lifted and the ivory key reflected the dim light. With a faint hope no one could hear him he pressed down the C chord expecting the notes to be extremely out of tune. To his delight though, the chord echoed sweetly through the room. "Magic" he thought with a smile. A croaking voice behind him made him whirl on the bench.

"Half-blood touches Master's piano. How dare it," Kreacher muttered.

Harry looked at Kreacher and decided to ignore the insult for now. He politely asked "Would you mind if I played? It has been years and well, I would love to try."

Kreacher's shocked expression at being addressed nicely by a half blood melted into a questioning and hopeful look. "You play?"

Harry nodded, remembering the hours he had spent hiding in the elementary school music room and soaking in the melodies. Harry 's teachers told him he had a gift for music. After hearing a song once he could play it back and almost make it sound better than the original. Music had been Harry's escape as he grew up and it was only when the Dursleys found out about his talent when he was ten that he had stopped playing. Sneaking in music practice as not worth the starvation it caused. His uncle could not find him here though and everyone else was downstairs in the kitchen. Too far away to hear he thought.Turning back to the keyboard he decided to play, placed his fingers in position, and pressed gently.

Two floors below, in the kitchen, dinner was just finishing up and people were arriving for an Order meeting. Fred and George were whispering at the end of the table while Hermione glared at them. Ron was still eating the roast chicken Mrs. Weasley had cooked up. Sirius and Remus were at the other end of the table talking quietly with Tonks and Charlie about some secret business.

A melody suddenly echoed through the room making everyone freeze. Sirius half stood up in surprise saying "Regulus's piano," before sinking back in to his chair to listen. It was a haunting tune to say the least, but as eerie as the song was there was a hopeful ring to it that lifted their hearts.

Hermione's eyes were sweeping the room mentally tallying who was missing. "Harry," she breathed.

"What?" Ron said, "He can play?"

"Well, he is the only one not here right now."

"It's him alright," said Moody from the corner. His magic eye was pointing up in to his skull toward the ceiling.

After a moment the tune quietly faded away and shifted into another one. The bouncing jazz melody made Fred and George laugh and Tonks reached over and pulled George up into a fast paced jazz dance. Fred snagged Ginny's hand and whirled her around. The others backed away hurriedly to avoid flailing limbs and grinned at the sight of the happy kids. Grimmauld Place was still unnervingly depressing, despite the cleaning attempts, and good cheer was hard to come by.

Up in the music room Harry felt calm for the first time since Cedric's death. He could block all thoughts here, and just let the music sweep over him. Finishing the jaunty tune he switched to a classical piece his music teacher had always loved to hear him play.

Moody kept his eye on the boy and remarked to Sirius, "Why can we hear the piano so well, it is at least two floors up?"

Sirius's mouth twisted into a half smile as he said, "My brother, Regulus, was very gifted musically, as it seems Harry is as well, and my Mother loved to hear him play. The piano is charmed to be heard in almost every room."

Ron winced and said, "Harry is going to be mortified, he probably thinks no one can hear him."

"Nonsense," Molly Weasley stated to her youngest son, "He is obviously talented and has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of."

Ron and Hermione glanced at each other knowing how much Harry hated being noticed for anything, talented or not. No, he was not going to be happy.

The dancers had slowed down to a slow parody of a waltz as they gasped to regain their breath. Ginny was attempting to stand of Fred's feet every chance she got as he dragged her around the room.

Harry was in heaven. How could he have let his passion for music fall away so easily? He supposed starvation and fear can do that to a ten year old. His uncle's hatred of his differences still hurt even if Harry denied it to himself.

His dreamland was interrupted by a sniffling sound behind him and his hands jolted away from the keys as he remembered the house elf in the room with him. Kreacher's popping eyes were streaming with tears and his fingers were rapidly twisting around each other. Harry slid off the piano bench toward him in concern, "What's wrong, I'm sorry, I will stop playing, I did not mean to bother you."

Kreacher gasped for breath and said, "Master Regulus played as well, I miss hearing music. Play more?"

Harry rocked back on his heels in relief at not offending the ancient elf and nodded. "What was his favorite song, maybe I could play it for you?" Harry asked quietly.

Kreacher gave a watery smile and whispered, "Romeo and Juliet."

Harry raised an eyebrow at this muggle song, but nodded that he knew it and spun back around on the bench. He knew his emotions were never going to survive this song. It had always made him feel like crying, and now that his emotions were so close to the surface he knew he was going to cry. It seemed very important to Kreacher though, so he thought he would suck it up for a while.

In the kitchen Sirius gasped as the love song started to play. "This was Reg's favorite song."

Moody growled, "That elf is up with him." He paused, watching as Harry started to have tears rolling down his face. "Go sit with him Sirius, he needs you."

This shocking display of empathy from the battle worn man had the inhabitants of the kitchen gawking as Sirius leapt up.

Remus grabbed his arm and said, "Calm down Padfoot, you cannot help him if you are wound up."

Sirius nodded and strode out of the kitchen and up the stairs. The kitchen sat in silence as the beautiful melody wrapped around them. For a brief while they too could forget the coming war and remember when the shy boy playing the piano used to smile with his eyes at everyone. McGonogall pulled out her handkerchief dabbed gently at her eyes.

Hermione and Ron shifted closer together, both were glad that their friend was starting to express his grief over their classmate's death. They had been at a loss of how to help him and now it seemed the music and Sirius could.

Sirius stepped silently into the musty music room and scowled at Kreacher. He slipped on to the bench next to Harry and watched as Harry's fingers seemed to move on their own. Harry's eyes were shut and the tear tracks on his cheeks shone in the half light. The final notes of the song drifted off into the silence.

Harry spoke suddenly, startling Sirius who thought he had not noticed his entrance "Does the forgetting get easier?"

Sirius winced and wrapped his arms around the smaller form of his godson. "No, it is impossible to forget. It is the remembering that gets easier. I remember how your father laughed and your mother could sing. How she could scream at us, but still have laughter in her eyes. How pathetic James was in his chasing after her and his delight when she finally said yes to a date."

"Cedric does not deserve to be forgotten, Harry."

Harry shifted in his arms slightly and spoke quietly, "He helped me with the second task you know. He was so happy with his life. I will try to remember him for that. Not for his death."

Sirius was shocked by these words, Harry was only fifteen and yet he understood life better than many people ever would. He tightened his grip and said with a slight laugh, "You wouldn't by chance know any more cheerful songs would you? That is enough depression for one day."

Harry sat upright with a grin, banishing all dreary thoughts for the time being. Sirius was right. Cedric was dead, remember him and move on. There was still a dark lord to be defeated after all.

"Do I know happy songs? What sort of question is that? You know I remember every piece of music I have ever heard? So any requests?" he teased Sirius.

Sirius laughed in relief that Harry was rejoining the world of the living and quickly started listing songs.

As Harry's cheery rendition of "Rocking Around the Clock," bounced through the house members of the Order tapped their toes and smiled again. The younger group, led by Hermione who knew the muggle song and dance, worked their way through the verses. Ron was appalled by the silly ideas that muggles had for fun, but the twins were delighted.

Charlie suggested with a laugh, "Maybe he is taking requests?"

Tonks grabbed his hand and begun pulling him up the stairs as the students bounded after them. Albus Dumbledore chuckled from his seat at the table. Poor Harry's hands were going to get a workout he suspected. Yes, they would lose good people in this war, but with people like Harry around they would still have the strength to stand back up and try again. They could get through this together.


End file.
